Candice & Todd's blog: much to celebrate in june.... mid-way through july~

Waaaaay behind on blogging. I'm not really sure where the time has gone.

I don't feel like we've done a lot this summer since our vacation to Edisto, but here are some cobbled-together thoughts on things we did in June to celebrate (mostly Todd)!

Maybe part of the reason it feels like we haven't done anything is because of all of the rain. Rain, rain, rain! Here's a snapshot of what happened in June... 9+ inches of rain! http://www.srh.noaa.gov/ffc/?n=rainfall_scorecard So far this year, we've had more rain in the first 6 months than in all of 2012 according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration "NOAA" (feels like it should be Noah instead!).

The rain has hindered our getting out on the weekends, but we took a chance early one day to go for a hike at one of our favorite spots: Sweetwater Creek State Park. The hike was nice. Mercer and I observed at least 10 different kinds of mushrooms along the hike, then the bottom fell out of the sky!

We started our hike out in the woods and were making our way over to the river (called creek, but it's pretty wide). We stopped only briefly to look out at the rushing water. Normally there are a lot more exposed rocks than shown here. (Mercer is looking at them with binoculars) Still such a beautiful spot. We'll be back~

This was Isabella's first time out here... and she slept most of the hike. She was covered in the Ergo carrier and the only one that remained pretty much dry!

June rings in Todd's birthday. We got him a tackle box + a gift card so he could go buy a fishing rod. Also, Isabella and I met Todd near his office for lunch, but....

... the real celebration came at dinner when we met a group of friends out at a szechwan restaurant that we love but rarely go to. It's a bit of a splurge and we're never 100% sure what we are getting when we order (sort of kidding), but everything is ALWAYS so good. Even though it was a school night, we kept the kids out very late to celebrate!

The following weekend was father's day. We headed south and spent the entire day outdoors. Our first stop was at a park we had not been to before: High Falls State Park. Who knew that in central Georgia that there was this kind of elevation change?

Here's an Isabella photo bomb of the waterfall just to prove she was there too (I've got her in a carrier on the front of me, so this photo is an extreme close up)~

We hiked down to the falls where we got to see teeny tiny frogs, some unique flowers, and ruins of an old building and a water-pipe system.

After our hike, we continued further south to an educational center called Go Fish. There's a building that houses a museum on fishing, has interactive displays, and an outdoor open-air aquarium featuring native fish. That was nice, but the main draw was to go fishing in their stocked pond. It was an almost sure bet (according to the website) that you could catch a fish.

Todd readied his new fishing rod. The guys cast their lines, waited. Waited some more. Restrung the hooks, cast some more times... and moments before we were about to leave (they were closing and told us we'd need to wrap it up)... the guys caught a little fish! Mercer is smiling in this picture, but he was actually pretty apprehensive. It took a little prodding to get him to pose for this photo! They gave Mercer a "first fish" award! What a great finish to father's day~

We continued to celebrate Todd's birthday later in the month. He "pooled" his birthday money from his & my parents (thanks y'all!) and bought tickets to a Mets / Braves game he was interested in going to so he could check out a new Mets pitcher. This was Isabella's first game, of course.

Mercer knew the drill -- he wanted to hang out in the kid's zone & run the bases / climb on things. H was a little more interested in the game, though. Each time we spend a little more time watching play on the field. One day, he'll sit through a whole game?!